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Japan’s whale hunters set sail for slaughter in International Whale Sanctuary

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Shimonoseki, Japan

The Government of Japan will tomorrow launch a fleet of six boats from Arukaport
to commence a new season of whale hunting, despite a global moratorium and
international outcry against commercial whaling. Japan’s self-allocated whaling
quota permits its whalers to kill up to 935 minke and 10 endangered fin whales.

Japan’s whale hunt starts just weeks after Iceland resumed commercial whaling
for the first time in 20 years. Seven fin whales and one minke whale were killed
in Iceland since it resumed whaling on Oct. 17, 2006. Much of this whale meat
has been frozen due to saturation in the market.

“Whales are under threat not only from those countries that still allow
commercial whaling, but also by entanglement, pollution, ocean noise, ship
strikes and global warming,” said Dr. Joth Singh, director of wildlife and
habitat protection at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
“Instead of stockpiling unwanted whale meat, IFAW urges these governments to
focus instead on the tremendous global growth in whale watching – no blood needs
to be shed.”

Japan hunts under the guise of “scientific” whaling, terminology that
allows it to continue whaling despite a global ban on commercial whaling imposed
by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986. In the 2005/2006 season
Japan’s whalers killed 853 minke and 10 fin whales from the Antarctic. Next year
Japan may also start hunting endangered humpback whales, with a self-allocated
quota of 50.

“Even more shocking is the fact that this whale hunt takes place in the
Southern Ocean Sanctuary around Antarctica, established by the IWC in 1994 as a
safe haven for these majestic creatures,” said Dr. Singh. The Southern Ocean
Sanctuary protects approximately 80% of the world’s whales, including some of
those whose winter migrations support thriving multi-million dollar whale
watching industries.

An IFAW-sponsored study found that over 100,000 people went whale
watching in Japan in 1998, up from 10,992 in 1991. More than 95% of the whale
and dolphin watchers in Japan were Japanese. Total expenditures for whale
watching in Japan in 1998 was estimated at US$32,984,000.

Regional communities in Japan have profited from the whale watching
industry, which provides new jobs and businesses including hotels, restaurants,
museums, and shops. Ogata reached its 100,000th whale watcher in 2000 – at that
time representing over 10 years of whale watching. In Ogasawara, where whale
watching began in Japan in 1988, 1999 saw a new high with 12,000 whale watchers.

Fin whales are listed as “endangered” by the World Conservation Union
(IUCN), and are second only to the blue whale in terms of size – growing to
average lengths of 18-22m and weights of 30-80 tons. They were hunted in
significant numbers by whalers in the past, and their population figures are
currently unknown. Minke whales are classified as “near threatened” by the IUCN,
which cites numerous conservation threats including bycatch and whaling.

“There really is no humane way to kill a whale,” said IFAW scientist and
whale expert Vassili Papastavrou. “Many whales that are harpooned sustain
horrific injuries and suffer for a long time before eventually dying.” An IFAW
analysis of Japanese whaling video footage obtained by Greenpeace concluded that
the killing methods for Antarctic minke whales are inefficient and raise serious
welfare issues concerning low instantaneous death rates, protracted times to
death and the occurrence of asphyxiation as a secondary killing method. Fewer
than one in five of the filmed whales were estimated to have died
instantaneously.

IFAW opposes whaling on the grounds of cruelty and encourages responsible
whale watching around the world as a humane and sustainable alternative to whale
hunting. To learn more, visit www.ifaw.org
today.